


A stranger among the chiss

by MissChiss



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Hand of Thrawn Duology - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Chiss, Gen, Nirauan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 22:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14963645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChiss/pseuds/MissChiss
Summary: Commander of the Household Phalanx of Mitth’raw’nuruodo discovers a strange animal in the hangar.





	A stranger among the chiss

**Author's Note:**

> Thank Rhonda3Green for the help in correcting mistakes
> 
> The same in Russian: archiveofourown.org/works/14886506

Stent was proud of his flying skills. He was considered the best pilot of the Empire of the Hand, but after Soontir Fell, of course. This man had been the real legend among the humans in the Empire of Palpatine and earned the same recognition among the Chiss in the other Empire pretty quickly.

When syndic Mitth’raw’nuruodo informed Stent that Fel would lead the pilot’s training, Stent accepted it with some skepticism. Why the syndic did not entrust his pilots to Stent, but to some outsider? However, the commanding of the Household Phalanx has already been taking a large amountof time and energy, so Stent did not object, although it damaged his warrior’s pride. After all, Thrawn always knew what he did.

And he did not make a mistake this time either. Fel pretty quickly got used to the Chiss’s crawcrafts, which were a little bit unusual for him and began to crash the best Chiss pilots on the training. The man, however, did not behave haughtily about his skills, but shared them with the other Chiss with enthusiasm. That invariably attracted the Chiss pilots and Stent more than others. He did not want to give in to the man, so he did not miss the opportunity to listenabout the tactics of the battle again, to learn a new maneuver or to train personally with Soontir himself. Fel noted the talent of the Chiss Commander and apparently wanted to train him as a partner for combat missions. He knew more than anyone the value of the one who would cover you while you would crash the next enemy fighter and the value of the professionalism of the whole squadron. That was the reason for him to select a few of the best Chiss pilots and trained them personally so that they could pass on skills to the other pilots.

The Chiss were ideal warriors: unconditional execution of orders, perfect training and constant analysis of the situation. However, they apparently learnt to act according to protocol. Therefore, they carried out everything clearly, but according to a certain scheme. It was their strength and also their weakness, because one often had to improvise in a space battle. More likely, it was the basis of their military education, so Fel decided that one of his tasks was to teach the pilots more latitude.

At first, serving the Empire of the Hand strained Fel a little. He remembered the first briefing, when the Chiss gathered around him, tilting their heads, and without blinking, were listening to the setting about flight training, and then quietly headed to their crawcrafts. Even in the Empire, where order was also strictly monitored, the pilots behaved more informally, not to mention the friendly attitude in the Rogue Squadron. Such silence was a novelty.

There were only his orders and the Chiss’s clear answers in the air too. They wanted to learn as much as possible and as soon as possible, so there was no time for empty chats.

The landscape of Nirauan was perfect for the pilots’ agility training. Canyons and gorges were narrow and could bend where you did not expect it. Of course, such maneuvers were pretty dangerous, but Fel took on such flights only those in whom he was sure. Today, however, the training had not worked out right from the start. The flight was delayed, one of the pilots had trouble with his crawcraft, and some of the ships hooked on rocked ledges. So Fel decided to get back to the hangar until someone crashed.

Upon his return, Fel informed his group that the debriefing would be an hour later at room B38. Having received confirmations from all pilots, he got out from the cockpit, took off the helmet and looked around the hangar. A few meters from his crawcraft stood Stent. The Chiss stood still, tilting his head a little to a side, like he was listening to something.

“This Chiss are like the cats. Freezing up, looking at something. It becomes creepy. What does he listen to in his head?” However, he did not have a desire to find out what was happening in the Chiss commander’s mind. Therefore, Fel decided that there was nothing in the hangar to stay here.

***

Stent climbed out of the cockpit and went to one of the wings. There was a long scratch on it. Why did Fel train them to fly in the ravine? Stent certainly did not understand it. Their place was in space. But the human explained it by the intention to develop a reaction and the ability to think quickly. So that “reaction” had failed him today when he raised his crawcraft out from the ledge too late. And now he was looking at the aftereffect.

The Chiss raised a hand to run his fingers along the groove as saw that something passed on the left. Stent quickly turned his head, but noticed nothing. He froze, peering and listening to the surroundings. The hangar was almost empty, crawcrafts and boxes with equipment… nothing could attract the commander’s attention. It was also unlikely that one of these winged creatures had made its way through unnoticed. Anyway, he must be sure that there was no threat to the hangar’s operation. Gripping his helmet more strongly and placing his hand on the holster with charric, Stent moved gingerly to the place where something was hiding. When a few meters were left to a row of boxes, he heard a rustle behind one of them. Could it be that one of these wreckers really had broken into the hangar and now was trying to hide? Stent carefully put his helmet to the floor, took out the charric and, aiming at the obvious location of the object, began to bypass the boxes, being ready to eliminate the interference. He snuck up to the edge of the last one, stopped for a moment, and then quickly jumped out from behind it, targeting the perpetrator.

The Commander was really surprised by what he saw. Locked in the corner, there was not one of the local cave fauna, but an unfamiliar animal. The creature was looking at him with frightened eyes and tried to merge with the metal wall. Stent knew that a beast, trapped in the corner, was extremely dangerous and could attack at any time to save its life. However, he could not just shoot this fluffy lump because of his curiosity. What was it? Where did it come from? What should he do with it? It was probably impossible to stun it. The charge was not designed for such a small creature and could easily kill it. He took a cautious step toward the animal. The beast dove into the wall more strongly and threateningly, for its small size, hissed.

“Interesting. It must be that the beast is telling me about his readiness to attack. But its actions indicate fear,“ thought Stent while examining the creature. “In addition, it is unlikely that such a small animal is capable of causing a lot of damage.”

It must not be left here. It was unknown what this animal could do and how it could sabotage the work. Therefore, Stent carefully came closer to the beast, which was watching him closely from its corner. Sitting next to it, the Chiss held out his hand, intending to show that he was not a threat for the creature and perhaps it would allow transporting itself. The furry animal cautiously pulled its muzzle and, as Stent understood, sniffed the approaching object. He was going to catch the animal, but it quickly clenched its teeth unexpectedly in the Chiss’s fingers. Stent hissed and tried to flex his hand, but the animal suddenly grabbed onto his wrist with his claws and did not intend to separate with its prey. He hardly tore the creature from his wrist and received a disgruntled rumble from the predator, which now was desperately struggling out from the strong grip of the Chiss. He rushed to the place where he had left his helmet and threw the animal into it. The predator leaned out and hissed aggressively again. Stent examined the injured hand. The animal had broken the fingers and had scratched the skin. He was not mistaken – even a small predator could be dangerous and unpredictable. It could also be poisonous… Deadly poisonous. Stent turned over to the animal who settled in his helmet. He must take it to the med bay. And quickly.

***

Stent walked fast along the corridor of the fortress, holding his helmet in his hands, with the predator looking out from here. The Chiss, which he met, were looking at the strange furry creature with interest. The Commander was sure he had heard that one of them whisper “What a strange ysalamir. It does not look like the others at all”. However, Stent knew for sure that it was not an ysalamir. They were never outside the designated zones, they were looked after and besides, none of them had such fangs, agility and dark fur. The animal needed to be urgently examined.

In the med bay, the Commander’s blood was examined for the presence of poison, microbes and other abnormalities. All tests gave a negative result. So, this being was not poisonous. Or at least was not poisonous at the current stage of its lifespan. While one Chiss was bandaging Stent’s hand, the other was looking at the animal with curiosity. He also had not seen anything like that, but judging by the color of the fur, formed the opinion that this one apparently lived in dark places. That was why it had hidden in places with the least light. The predator really blinked a little and its eyes, which first seemed to Stent almost black, now were pale green.

“The animal must be explored for pathogenic bacteria and other infections,” said the doctor, finishing with the bandage.

“It is pretty aggressive for such analyses,” Stent warned her, looking at his hand with a pouty face.

“We even do not know what it is. We have full data of flora and fauna of Nirauan and this one is surely not from here,” informed the Chiss who had been looking at the creature and now was checking the information in the datapad.

“Perhaps, humans know what it is and how it could get here,” said Stent pensively.

***

The doctor had suggested for the commander to bring his find to humans himself since it had settled in his helmet. He had thought that the most suitable person for this issue would be Admiral Parck. He could either identify the animal or arrange the required research.

Deep in his thoughts, the Chiss almost crashed into Fel who appeared from the corner.

“Stent… Surprised that you are late for the de-briefing. Usually you… what is that you have?” The animal started to move in the helmet and took the Fel’s attention. “Is it… Is it a cat? Where did you get it?”

“If I understand you correctly, this animal is called… a cat?”

“Well, the adult ones at least. This one is still a kitten judging by its size,” Fel shared his opinion, looking into the helmet.

“So, it is the cub of a... cat?” the Chiss tried again an unknown word.

“Yes, that is it. I had no idea that they dwell here.”

“Your knowledge is correct. According to our data, cats do not dwell on Nirauan. This one is from outside.”

“Hm, I suppose you are right. They are very common on some planets, including Wild Space and the Unknown regions too, I assume. I am surprised that the Chiss do not know about cats. I think this one had gotten on one of the supply ships and when he was on the planet, he got out and hid somewhere.”

“Your theory is quite plausible. I found it in the hangar behind some boxes with the equipment.”

“Well, it is difficult to trace where he came from and it also makes no sense. I think it can stay here now.”

“But are they not dangerous? This being is quite aggressive and has already attacked me.”

“The kitten is just frightened. How can it be sure that we mean no harm to it? In addition, it is probably hungry. Cats seem to be always hungry,” Fel grinned. “However, I think you should get a permission from the admiral. He will be very surprised if he suddenly comes across a cat here.”

Stent was burning him with his red eyes for some time.

“I was just going to the admiral to find out what it was. But you have already answered to this question. However, I cannot leave the cat, it can escape. Permit me to skip the briefing to obtain the approval of Admiral Parck and provide the proper conditions for keeping the cat?”

“The Chiss. Serious attitude to any case,” flashed in the Soontir’s mind.

“You have my permission, Commander. Take care of our new pet and… take care of your hands.” Fel smiled and walked down the corridor.

Yes, the baron was right. Stent had already realized that the one should be careful with a cat.

***

Stent sat in his quarters and watched the animal who rapaciously dealt with the portion of meat allocated to him. The kitten did it with such frenzy as if he had just personally hunted down and killed his victim and now was devouring the well-earned prey.

The visit to the admiral went smoothly. Parck, as well as Fel, was surprised by the find and said that he had not seen cats for a long time. Although they were often kept at homes on his native planet, Corulag. This statement surprised Stent. Obviously, the predator was quite aggressive and therefore, dangerous. Was it safe to keep cats at home? Parck responded that the kitten could be tamed.

“You, Commander, should manage with such a formidable predator,” Parck said with a grin.

Having received the permission of the admiral to keep the pet and being assured that with proper care, the kitten was not a threat, Stent headed toward the cantina. The kitten, as Fel said, probably was hungry and a portion of food, perhaps, would make him more complaisant. Stopping at the door of the cantina, Stent thought that maybe he did not want to show his foundling, and therefore decided to get him food in the kitchen. The commander had been provided with a meat portion in a small bowl. He understood that the creature ate meat from his sharp teeth, which were hardly suitable for chewing grass or fruits. And now, watching the animal, Stent realized that he had made no mistake with the choice of the ration.

The cat had black fur and one of his ears was a little torn. Stent decided that this was the sign that the cat had been attacked. The Chiss remembered that at the end of the conversation Parck mentioned that in some society black cats were taken as the token of luck and in the other – as a sign of trouble. Stent, however, did not understand how the color of fur could bring fortune or disaster. It must be one of the strange human’s beliefs. As well as giving animals, which live with humans, names. Parck had mentioned this too, replacing the long phrase with a shorter “pet”.

Stent examined the pet closely. He finished the meal in no time and licked with satisfaction . Well, if it was customary to give names to ships, why not give the same honor to the pet which would likely remain with him and since he would be responsible for him.

Carefully wiping the muzzle with his paw, the kitten aimed at the bunk on which Stent was sitting, watching the animal’s actions. He did not pay any attention to the Chiss and jumped on the cot. Having sniffed the place he liked, the kitten curled up in a ball, and now he looked like a dark spot. Stent was surprised at the cat’s arrogance, but he also was a little afraid to move him out on the floor because he did not want to bandage his second hand as well. The kitten clearly intended to defend himself against any encroachments to his side. So, what should he call this fuzzy mess?

“Ch’etecerci,” Stent quietly tried the word on cheunh that appearing in his mind, which, according to his opinion, fitted his new pet.

“Ch’etecerci’” he called a little louder, making an accent on the hissing sounds.

The kitten jerked his ear, took up his head and stared at the Chiss with sleepy eyes. Yes, definitely a suitable name for him.

Going out into the corridor, Stent thought that he needed to provide the recruit with his own berth and gave orders about repairing the damaged clawcraft...

**Author's Note:**

> “Ch’etecerci” – warrior in cheunh


End file.
